uniquely fresco

At Fresco we like to do things a little different...

Fresco Chocolate started with an idea: people who love chocolate may want to know more about it. What ingredients are used? How is it made? What variables affect taste? Our goal is to answers these questions by making chocolate in unique ways, adjusting ingredients and processes to create new chocolate experiences. Then we offer these chocolates for your critique.

Each fresco bar has a story that is waiting to be told. Each bar's story contains a few common elements:

RECIPE NUMBER - Every chocolate recipe receives a unique number. Cocoa bean, cocoa percentage, roasting levels, and chocolate conching levels all combine to define a recipe. Also, Terroir matters! Cacao is an agricultural crop subject to season changes. When repeating a chocolate recipe with cocoa from different harvests, the chocolate naturally changes character.

COCOA ORIGIN - The country and region where cocoa was harvested tells much about how the finished chocolate will taste.

COCOA PERCENTAGE - With all fresco bars this is the ratio of cocoa ingredients (cocoa beans and cocoa butter) to sugar.

COCOA ROAST - Roasting is essential to chocolate flavor development. Each cocoa variety has its own unique range of flavors. Different roasting levels can coax these flavors from the cocoa. Our roast levels include:

light - just enough to soften raw cocoa’s acidic or green edge

medium - cocoa flavors develop to be balanced and flavorful

dark - full bodied, bold, intense, new flavor notes can develop while others may be subdued

CHOCOLATE CONCHE - Heat, motion, aeration and time develop each chocolate’s flavor; this is conching. Changes in time and temperature result in dramatically different chocolate flavors. Our conche range includes:

none- primitive, natural, pungent, not appropriate for all cocoa, exquisite for some